Chicago swine flu cases 'throughout the city'

As the number of likely or confirmed H1N1 swine flu cases in Illinois rose to 54, Chicago's health commissioner said transmission of the virus is now taking place "throughout the city of Chicago."

But no new schools in Chicago are closing. The only Chicago public school closed so far during the outbreak, Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in Rogers Park, is expected to remain closed through next week, said CPS head Ron Huberman in a news conference this afternoon.

Two early childhood sites have closed near Kilmer School, although no suspected flu cases were reported there, officials said.

Late Friday, Stroger Hospital officials said two Chicagoans -- a 53-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman -- were thought to have come down with the swine flu and samples were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials said it was unclear if the pair were included in the most recent state tally.

Also Friday, officials announced that an Oak Lawn Community High School student was also being treated as a probable swine flu case.

In a statement on the school's Web site, officials said the student was not on campus when he was contagious so health officials determined there was no reason to cancel school or extracurricular activities.

Nationally, 141 cases have been confirmed in 19 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this morning. Only one death linked to the disease has been confirmed in the United States.

The 3 confirmed cases are the state's first since the outbreak began, although the threshold for probables involves testing that is 99 percent certain, according to health officials.

At Stroger tonight, officials said both Chicago patients arrived to the hospital's emergency room on Wednesday. The man was admitted because of pneumonia and was reported in stable condition, according to hospital officials.

The woman was complaining of fever, a cough and body aches. She was immediately placed in isolation as are all patients with flu symptoms, hospital officials said.

She was released Thursday because her symptoms were not severe and was given anti-viral medicine and other medications for her symptoms.